Pune: Ending months of speculation over his future role in active politics, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has declared that he will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election 2019, while his nephew Ajit Pawar and others family members will not contest.
Speaking to mediapersons late on Tuesday, Pawar said, “Ajit Pawar is not going to contest the election, Parth Pawar is not going to contest, Rohit Pawar is not going to contest. Sharad Pawar is going to contest.”
Pawar made this statement while addressing a question about him allegedly promoting dynastic politics in the region.
Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar is already a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and there were strong speculations about his son Ajit joining the active politics and contesting polls.
Pawar also refuted rumours of his grandson Rohit contesting polls.
It may be recalled that Pawar had earlier said that he won’t contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Back in 2014, Pawar had said that he had been in the politics for more than 50 years and would not contest elections henceforth.
During 2014 general elections, the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress had fielded political contenders for 27 constituencies in Maharashtra, while the Pawar-led NCP had contested on 21 seats.
In 2014, NCP could only win four seats – it’s lowest tally in several years.
This led to strong speculations that the NCP chief may contest from Pune constituency in order to boost his party’s prospects. Out of 48 seats in the State, NCP is likely to contest on 25, the sources said.